Eurhostal Alcossebre: My Honest Review After Staying

I booked the Eurhostal for one very specific reason: the price. It’s an apartment complex in Alcossebre, in Castellón, one of the cheapest places I’ve found in Spain with good reviews, and it also offers meal plans.

I’d had my eye on it since the summer before, when I saw it on offer in the middle of July, with all three meals, at a price you rarely see on the coast. We went in mid-September 2026, and we paid for the stay ourselves, out of our own pocket and with no invitation.

The short answer: I only recommend it if you find it much cheaper than everything else in the area. The beach opposite and the size of the apartment win you over. The breakfast, the cleaning and the service, not so much.

My take on the Eurhostal in two minutes

I give it 6.6 out of 10. Its best score is for the space in the apartment, an 8, followed by the beach, the bed and the bathroom, all three on 7.

What pulls the average down most is breakfast, on 5, the lowest score in the table. The pools get a 6, and the cleaning, the food and the staff a 6.5.

The best and the worst of the Eurhostal

Where the Eurhostal is

The complex is in Alcossebre (Alcocéber in Spanish), on the Castellón coast, right in front of Las Fuentes beach. You cross the promenade and you’re on the sand. On one side is the marina, and on the other, the whole bay.

It’s a tourist area, but a quiet and pleasant one. It’s worth being clear about what this is: an ageing apartment complex, simple and basic, which competes on price and location, not on facilities.

The beach: the best thing about the Eurhostal

The beach is the reason to come. It’s wide, with a lively seafront promenade: at any time of day you pass people out walking or exercising. We really liked the area.

With children it’s one of the easy ones. The water gets deeper gradually and there are hardly any waves, because the beach is sheltered between breakwaters, like a small bay. And there’s plenty of sand at the water’s edge to play on.

I give it a 7. It isn’t a picture-postcard beach, but for a family with young children it has what you need: it’s right opposite, it’s calm and you can keep an eye on them without any stress.

And then there’s the promenade. At dusk we went out for a walk along it, among the palm trees and with the sea beside us. It has a cycle lane and plenty of people strolling at their own pace. With children, it’s a plan that costs nothing.

The pools: fine for a while

The pool area is family-friendly and simple. There’s one deeper pool and two small ones, for children who can’t swim yet. This is where the families who aren’t going down to the beach that day gather, and there’s a snack bar beside it.

They aren’t pools for spending the whole day at, which is why they get a 6. The natural shade is by the playground, which is where the trees are.

And a word of warning if you like an afternoon swim: from six or seven o’clock, the building blocks the sun and the pool is left in shade. The sun drops behind the block and it soon cools down.

The bar terrace, right by the big pool, is the heart of the complex. That’s where the tables are, where they set up the stage for the entertainment, and where the activities and excursions set off from.

The apartment: lots of space, little comfort

You don’t sleep in a room here, but in a studio of between 40 and 45 m². It sleeps up to four, and has a kitchenette, a fridge, a sofa, a TV, air conditioning and a terrace.

It looks dated. You gain square metres over a hotel room and lose out on comfort: it’s the classic seaside apartment, spacious and with no frills. The space is its best score, an 8.

Ask for a sea view

We took a sea-view apartment, and I’d do it again. If your budget stretches to it, choose a sea view: the location is the best thing about the complex, and the terrace is where you notice it most.

The terrace looks out over the whole bay, and the sun rises right in front of you, over the sea. It has a table, chairs and a clothes airer, which you appreciate in a beach apartment.

The bed and the sofa bed

The bed is ordinary: a sprung mattress, on the firm side, and a standard pillow, which is the weaker of the two. You sleep fine, nothing more. I give it a 7.

The sofa opens out into two beds, and they aren’t the same. One has a mattress like the one on the bed; the other is the lower part of the sofa, and you can tell. It works for four, but don’t expect two hotel beds.

On the other hand, we never once heard the neighbours, and the surroundings are quiet. You get proper rest here.

The kitchenette and the bathroom

The kitchenette gets you out of a tight spot: warming up a child’s food or making something quick. The fridge and the microwave are inside a cupboard. If you come on full board at this price, cooking won’t be worth your while.

The bathroom is roomy, with a bath, and does the job for a family. No luxuries and no problems, though it shows its age, like the rest of the apartment. Another 7.

Cleanliness

The cleaning was superficial, which is why I give it a 6.5. It wasn’t that it was dirty, but it lacked that properly clean feel you expect when you open the door on the first day of your holiday.

The food: decent, with a breakfast that could be much better

We took full board, with breakfast, lunch and dinner at La Cúpula, the complex’s buffet. In short: breakfast falls short, and lunch and dinner do the job for what it costs.

Breakfast

Breakfast was what I liked least about the stay. It’s very basic, there’s little variety and the produce is so-so, starting with the coffee, which is instant.

Almost everything is pastries, bacon, sausages and bread. If you’re after something healthy, the only thing I found was yoghurt. I’d rather have a buffet with three well-chosen things than one with more trays and poorer produce, which is why I give it a 5.

Lunch and dinner

Lunch and dinner are a step up, to a 6.5. It’s simple, no-nonsense cooking: plain dishes, some meat and some fish, and the salads and vegetables, which were the best thing I found. We had dinner on the terrace.

For children there’s pizza, chips and nuggets. Several things are frozen and reheated, like the special fried rice. Think of the set menu at a beach bar: you eat and you don’t go hungry, but nobody comes here for the cooking.

Desserts

The desserts are the most varied part of the buffet: chocolate, crème caramel, jelly, waffles, fruit and a few other sweet things. They’re mass-produced, but several are tasty.

Drinks, picnics and the dining room rules

Drinks aren’t included in full board: you pay for them separately, on your way into the restaurant. Bear that in mind when you do your sums.

If you’re off on a day trip, you can ask for a picnic. According to the notice in the restaurant, you request it at reception 24 hours ahead and collect it at the previous meal. Another notice: you can’t take food out of the dining room or bring in food or drink from outside.

For kids: beach, pool and not much else

There’s no kids’ club. It’s worth knowing before you book, especially if you were counting on leaving the children with the entertainment team for a while.

What there is instead is an entertainment programme for the whole family, which changes every day. In the mornings, between 10:30 and one o’clock, it’s gym, dance, Pilates or yoga, followed by boules on the beach, bat and ball, table tennis or archery.

In the afternoon, from six to seven, there are board games, workshops or a quiz, and at 19:15, bingo. Some days there’s an outing: to the lighthouse on Mondays, into the village on Thursdays and to the hermitage on Sundays. For the youngest there are the two children’s pools and the playground.

Does it work? Yes, if your plan with young children is beach, pool and time together. If you’re expecting a family hotel with lots to do on site, this isn’t it. I give it a 6.5.

For adults: the bar and not much else

There are no facilities for adults, so I don’t score this category. There’s no gym, no spa and no relaxation area: there’s the pool bar, and that’s it.

What there is, though, is evening entertainment on the bar terrace. From 22:00 to 23:30 it’s dancing, a film, live music or karaoke, depending on the day; we got dance night.

I’m not saying it as a criticism, it is what it is: a simple aparthotel you come to for the price, the space and the beach.

The staff

The service was polite, but cold. We had no problems at all, but no smile or little touch to remember either: they do their job, and little more.

In budget accommodation, a friendly team changes your impression of the whole stay, and we didn’t feel that here. I give it a 6.5.

Eurhostal scores, category by category

Category	Score	Why
Overall	6.6	The average of the ten scores
Cleanliness	6.5	Superficial: it lacks that properly clean feel.
Bed and pillow	7	A sprung mattress on the firm side; the pillow is the weak point.
Bathroom	7	Roomy and functional, showing its age.
Apartment size	8	A studio of 40 to 45 m², with a kitchenette and terrace.
Breakfast	5	Very basic, with little variety and instant coffee.
Lunch and dinner	6.5	Simple, no-nonsense food; the best of it, the salads and vegetables.
Pools	6	One deeper and two small; in shade by late afternoon.
Kids’ facilities	6.5	Children’s pools, a playground and assorted activities. No kids’ club.
Beach	7	Right opposite, wide, calm and easy with children.
Staff	6.5	Polite, but cold.

The average of the ten scores is 6.6. Adult facilities don’t count because there aren’t any, and lunch and dinner share a score.

Who the Eurhostal is for, and who it isn’t for

It’s your place if:

• You find it on a deal clearly below everything else in the area.
• Your plan is beach, pool and seafront walks as a family.
• You’d rather have space and a kitchenette than the comfort of a hotel.

It isn’t your place if:

• Breakfast matters to you, or you choose where to stay for the food.
• You want a kids’ club or a hotel with lots for children to do.
• You want a gym, a spa or something aimed at adults.

If the Eurhostal isn’t for you

• Hotel Playas de Guardamar: another budget stay from this trip, in Alicante, which won me over more, with the beach in front and more for children.
• Hotel Magic Games, a family hotel we’ve stayed in at Oropesa del Mar, also in Castellón.
• Family hotels in Spain, every one we’ve stayed in, scored out of 10.

Do I recommend the Eurhostal? Only on a very good deal

At the price of other places to stay in the area, I wouldn’t recommend it. I came hoping to find a bargain, and the stay wasn’t what I expected.

I’ve slept in a lot of budget hotels, and several have surprised me with how well you eat and how well you’re treated. A hotel being cheap doesn’t mean the quality has to be low, and here the breakfast, the cleaning and the service fall short.

That said: if you see it much cheaper than the rest, it does make sense. Especially if you’re going to spend the day on the beach, have a dip in the pool, stroll along the promenade and use the apartment for sleeping.